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“When we were looking at it … (at) first glance, we couldn’t see Apple being dominant. But when we looked some time ago, we didn’t find … the necessary (evidence) to start a case,” she said. “Obviously if we had official complaints, we would take that seriously because the entire payment market is a very important payment market.” Separately Vestager is reviewing whether Amazon is using merchants’ data illegally to make its own brand products similar to retailers’. “It could be (a fourth cas

“When we were looking at it … (at) first glance, we couldn’t see Apple being dominant. That doesn’t exclude in the future that we will have a second look. But when we looked some time ago, we didn’t find … the necessary (evidence) to start a case,” she said.

“Obviously if we had official complaints, we would take that seriously because the entire payment market is a very important payment market.”

A spokeswoman for Apple declined to comment.

Separately Vestager is reviewing whether Amazon is using merchants’ data illegally to make its own brand products similar to retailers’. She said she has been inundated with data, key to building a case against the U.S. online retailer.

“Now we have received not piles, but mountains of data and for us it is a priority to go through that, both from Amazon themselves but also coming in from some of the businesses that they actually host,” she said.

“For us, of course it is important to get the starting point right because, if we open a case, in order to be able to proceed with some speed, well then of course we need to get some of the basics right and we are in the process of doing that.”

Vestager recently asked Google’s rivals if the internet search engine unfairly demotes local search competitors, raising the possibility of a fourth antitrust case against the company.

“Now we ask questions when it comes to local search. This means a lot to many people because you use your phone or your table, you are looking for a place to eat, opening hours, where to go, museums, doctors, all kinds of stuff, and therefore of course it is a very important area, a very important service,” she said.

“It could be (a fourth case against Google) but of course we start asking questions without prejudice.”

Her family assured the court she would remain in Vancouver if she was granted bail, according to the court documents. Earlier on Sunday, China’s foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador to lodge a “strong protest” over the arrest, and said the United States should withdraw its arrest warrant. China urged the United States to withdraw the arrest warrant, Le added. The U.S. case against Meng involves Skycom Tech, which Huawei has described as one of its “major local partners” in Iran. Reuters

Her family assured the court she would remain in Vancouver if she was granted bail, according to the court documents. Her husband said he plans to bring the couple’s daughter to Vancouver to attend school during the proceedings. Meng will be back in the court for a bail hearing on Monday.

Huawei, the world’s biggest supplier of telecoms network equipment and second biggest smartphone seller, did not offer an immediate comment on the court documents. The company, a market leader across many countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, previously said it has complied with all applicable rules.

Earlier on Sunday, China’s foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador to lodge a “strong protest” over the arrest, and said the United States should withdraw its arrest warrant.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng told U.S. ambassador Terry Branstad the United States had made an “unreasonable demand” on Canada to detain Meng while she was passing through Vancouver, China’s Foreign Ministry said.

“The actions of the U.S. seriously violated the lawful and legitimate rights of the Chinese citizen, and by their nature were extremely nasty,” Le told Branstad.

China urged the United States to withdraw the arrest warrant, Le added. “China will respond further depending on U.S. actions,” he said, without elaborating.

On Saturday, Le warned the Canadian ambassador there would be severe consequences if it did not immediately release Meng.

There was no immediate reaction from Canada. On Friday, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters Canada’s relationship with China was important, and the country’s ambassador in Beijing has assured the Chinese consular access will be provided to Meng.

The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei shipped U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, Reuters reported in April.

The U.S. case against Meng involves Skycom Tech, which Huawei has described as one of its “major local partners” in Iran. Huawei used Skycom’s Tehran office to provide mobile network equipment to several major telecommunications companies in Iran, people familiar with the company’s operations have told Reuters.

In December 2012, Reuters reported that documents showed Skycom had tried to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment in 2010 to Iran’s largest mobile-phone operator.

Reuters later reported that Skycom had much closer ties to Huawei and Meng than previously known.

In Canadian court papers made public on Friday, an investigation by U.S. authorities found Huawei operated Skycom as an “unofficial subsidiary” to conduct business in Iran.

Huawei said its Iran operations were “in strict compliance with applicable laws, regulations and sanctions” of the United Nations, United States and European Union, according to Canadian court documents released on Sunday.

U.S. officials allege that Meng and other Huawei representatives misled financial institutions about Huawei’s control of Skycom, so the Chinese company could gain access to the international banking system. As a result, an unidentified financial institution cleared more than $100 million worth of transactions related to Skycom through the U.S. between 2010 and 2014, the court papers said.

On Thursday, Reuters identified HSBC Holdings as one of the banks involved in the Meng case and, citing sources, reported that the probe included possible bank fraud.

Companies are barred from using the U.S. financial system to funnel goods and services to sanctioned entities.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said on Sunday he would “100 percent absolutely” introduce a measure in the new Congress that would ban Chinese telecom companies from doing business in the United States.

“We have to understand Chinese companies are not like American companies. OK. We can’t even get Apple to crack an iPhone for us in a terrorist investigation,” he told CBS “Face the Nation.”

“When the Chinese ask a telecom company, we want you to turn over all the data you’ve gathered in the country you’re operating in, they will do it. No court order. Nothing like that. They will just do it. They have to. We need to understand that.”

Rubio was a strong critic of China’s ZTE Corp, which pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating U.S. laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran.

A European lawmaker has called for updated regulation on Facebook and other social networks after a trove of revelatory emails was released by the British Parliament. Internal documents made public Wednesday by Britain’s digital, culture, media and sport committee showed senior executives at Facebook — including CEO Mark Zuckerberg — discussing the prospect of charging developers for access to user data and shutting off competitor Vine’s access to the data. Claude Moraes, a member of the Europea

A European lawmaker has called for updated regulation on Facebook and other social networks after a trove of revelatory emails was released by the British Parliament.

Internal documents made public Wednesday by Britain’s digital, culture, media and sport committee showed senior executives at Facebook — including CEO Mark Zuckerberg — discussing the prospect of charging developers for access to user data and shutting off competitor Vine’s access to the data.

Claude Moraes, a member of the European Parliament representing the U.K.’s Labour party, said in response to the news that the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, should revamp its competition rules to probe the “possible monopoly” of social media giants and to “audit the advertising industry on social media.”

“In the European Parliament, we have repeatedly raised concerns about the manipulation of online data and have made clear that competition law is crucial to make sure that the dominant players are accountable and that democracy is protected from excessive market power,” Moraes told CNBC in an emailed statement Thursday.

He added: “Facebook is now on notice that we cannot continue to undermine the trust citizens place, not only in our online platforms, but our democracy itself. Action must be taken to protect our elections and citizens’ right to private life, and if Facebook doesn’t like it then they should know that we don’t like interference and disruption of our elections either.”

Technology stocks across the region were under pressure, including many Huawei partners and suppliers. Taiwan’s major tech names also struggled: Catcher Technology fell 9.89 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor was down 2.65 percent, Largan Precision lost 9.94 percent and iPhone assembler Hon Hai dropped 3.63 percent. “Huawei equipment is more widely used (than ZTE is) by carriers around the world, including in Europe and Africa,” they said. ZTE shares listed in Hong Kong were down 5.94 percent on the

Shares of Nikkei heavyweight SoftBank Group fell 4.93 percent. Last year, SoftBank and Huawei jointly demonstrated potential use of the next generation of high-speed mobile internet; SoftBank is taking its mobile unit public on Dec. 19.

Analysts at Jefferies pointed out that Huawei has a major global presence in various technology areas such as telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, smartphones and cloud computing. It also represents a major growth driver for many tech manufacturers.

Huawei’s Meng, who is the daughter of the company’s founder, faces extradition to the U.S., according to Canada’s Department of Justice.

While the arrest represents a new escalation in American efforts to hold Chinese companies accountable for violation of U.S. laws, it is likely to elicit an angry reaction from Beijing, according to Eurasia Group.

“The investigation of Huawei could be a prelude to further action against the firm and its senior officials,” the Eurasia Group analysts said, adding that if the U.S. places a sudden ban on Huawei equipment, like it did with ZTE, the impact would be much greater.

“Huawei equipment is more widely used (than ZTE is) by carriers around the world, including in Europe and Africa,” they said.

ZTE shares listed in Hong Kong were down 5.94 percent on the day.

Both Huawei and ZTE are restricted from selling telecoms equipment in the U.S. due to what the U.S. describes as national security concerns.

The European Commission’s latest investigation into Google won’t conclude before the end of the year, the EU’s antitrust chief said Tuesday. Speaking at a press conference at the Slush tech conference in Helsinki, Finland, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the EU’s probe involving Google’s AdSense service would “not be done before New Year’s.” Vestager said last month the investigation was nearing an end which could potentially mean a fine for the search giant. The EU sta

The European Commission’s latest investigation into Google won’t conclude before the end of the year, the EU’s antitrust chief said Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference at the Slush tech conference in Helsinki, Finland, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the EU’s probe involving Google’s AdSense service would “not be done before New Year’s.” Vestager said last month the investigation was nearing an end which could potentially mean a fine for the search giant.

The EU started investigating Google over its Adsense ad service in 2016, accusing the tech giant of hiding advertisements from competitors in its search function. It has denied the charges. It is the third antitrust case the European Commission has brought forward against Google.

Bitcoin is at the end of a distress cycle, says BlockTower 6 Hours Ago | 06:01Other major cryptocurrencies also rallied Wednesday afternoon. The entire cryptocurrency market capitalization rallied by more than $20 billion in 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Brian Kelly, CEO of BKCM, said bitcoin may have also been boosted by “hash wars” over bitcoin cash finally coming to an end. That digital currency split into two competing versions earlier in November— “Bitcoin ABC” and “Bitcoi

Bitcoin is at the end of a distress cycle, says BlockTower 6 Hours Ago | 06:01

Other major cryptocurrencies also rallied Wednesday afternoon. XRP, the second largest by market cap, rose 12 percent. Ether, the third biggest, was up 14 percent, according to CoinMarketCap.com. The entire cryptocurrency market capitalization rallied by more than $20 billion in 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin is still deeply in the red this year. The cryptocurrency has dropped by more than 68 percent in 2018, and is now off more than 77 percent from its all-time high.

Andy Bromberg, co-founder and president of CoinList, a platform for listing digital tokens, said Wednesday’s recovery may have been the result of investors “digging back in after the craziness of last week.”

“Today’s rise is mostly a reaction to the precipitous drops last week and people thinking that may have been an overreaction,” Bromberg told CNBC.

Because crypto markets are still relatively small, one buyer placing an especially large “buy” order can “kick off an avalanche,” Bromberg said.

Brian Kelly, CEO of BKCM, said bitcoin may have also been boosted by “hash wars” over bitcoin cash finally coming to an end. That digital currency split into two competing versions earlier in November— “Bitcoin ABC” and “Bitcoin SV”.

“You’re seeing the bitcoin cash saga play itself out,” Kelly said. “People were funding a lot of that by selling bitcoin, so one element of sellers has left the market.”

While Kelly said positive headlines this week didn’t necessarily result in the double-digit percent spike, it was good for the overall sentiment in crypto markets.

“People are starting to understand that this is a legitimate asset class,” Kelly said.

Google’s technology will not suggest gender-based pronouns because the risk is too high that its “Smart Compose” technology might predict someone’s sex or gender identity incorrectly and offend users, product leaders revealed to Reuters in interviews. Gender is a “a big, big thing” to get wrong. Getting Smart Compose right could be good for business. Gmail has 1.5 billion users, and Lambert said Smart Compose assists on 11 percent of messages worldwide sent from Gmail.com, where the feature firs

Google’s technology will not suggest gender-based pronouns because the risk is too high that its “Smart Compose” technology might predict someone’s sex or gender identity incorrectly and offend users, product leaders revealed to Reuters in interviews.

Gmail product manager Paul Lambert said a company research scientist discovered the problem in January when he typed “I am meeting an investor next week,” and Smart Compose suggested a possible follow-up question: “Do you want to meet him?” instead of “her.”

Consumers have become accustomed to embarrassing gaffes from autocorrect on smartphones. But Google refused to take chances at a time when gender issues are reshaping politics and society, and critics are scrutinizing potential biases in artificial intelligence like never before.

“Not all ‘screw ups’ are equal,” Lambert said. Gender is a “a big, big thing” to get wrong.

Getting Smart Compose right could be good for business. Demonstrating that Google understands the nuances of AI better than competitors is part of the company’s strategy to build affinity for its brand and attract customers to its AI-powered cloud computing tools, advertising services and hardware.

Gmail has 1.5 billion users, and Lambert said Smart Compose assists on 11 percent of messages worldwide sent from Gmail.com, where the feature first launched.

Smart Compose is an example of what AI developers call natural language generation (NLG), in which computers learn to write sentences by studying patterns and relationships between words in literature, emails and web pages.

Bitcoin and other notable cryptocurrencies rose in value on Monday after a brutal week for the nascent market. The world’s best-known and most-valuable digital currency climbed back above the $4,000 mark late Sunday, according to CoinMarketCap data. However, later in the day, bitcoin pared its losses, and on Monday was trading 5.54 percent higher to a price of $3,982.80 shortly after 7 a.m. Worries had built up around a so-called “hard fork” that led to the creation of two new versions of the bi

Bitcoin and other notable cryptocurrencies rose in value on Monday after a brutal week for the nascent market.

The world’s best-known and most-valuable digital currency climbed back above the $4,000 mark late Sunday, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Its price fell as low as $3,447.58 on Sunday, as investor angst over the cryptocurrency’s plunge worsened. However, later in the day, bitcoin pared its losses, and on Monday was trading 5.54 percent higher to a price of $3,982.80 shortly after 7 a.m. ET.

Cryptocurrencies are still well off their record highs though. Bitcoin is down more than 80 percent since it reached an all-time high close to $20,000 in December 2017. XRP and ether, the second and third-largest virtual currencies respectively, are both down roughly 90 percent since their record highs.

The market was shaken by a sudden wave of volatility on November 14, when bitcoin suddenly broke below $6,000. Worries had built up around a so-called “hard fork” that led to the creation of two new versions of the bitcoin offshoot cryptocurrency bitcoin cash.

Such events tend to occur when there is disagreement in the community about how to scale a cryptocurrency efficiently so that it can cope with a higher volume of trading. Bitcoin’s blockchain, for instance, has been known to grow sluggish in events of high demand, with transaction times taking longer and fees rising.

Other notable concerns for investors include the prospect of increased regulatory scrutiny and bitcoin’s falling “hash rate” — essentially the rate at which a bitcoin “miner” solves complex mathematical problems to add a transaction to the underpinning blockchain network.

“Bitcoin has been correlated to its hash rate and with it now falling, so is the price,” Charles Hayter, chief executive of digital currency comparison site CryptoCompare, told CNBC via email.

“The idea is that the hash rate gives some idea of what underlying opex (operating expenses) and capital costs people are willing to utilize to generate bitcoin and give it a benchmark price.”

Airbnb said it will remove property listings in Israeli West Bank settlements from its platform. The settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by most world powers, although Israel disputes this. According to Airbnb, there are around 200 properties in the occupied West Bank listed on its platform. After a considerable evaluation process, the firm made the decision to remove those listings. There are many strong views as it relates to lands that have been the subject of historic and int

Airbnb said it will remove property listings in Israeli West Bank settlements from its platform.

Announcing the decision Monday, the company said it had “wrestled with the issue and … struggled to come up with the right approach.”

“In the past, we made clear that we would operate in this area as allowed by law,” Airbnb said in a statement. “We did this because we believe that people-to-people travel has considerable value and we want to help bring people together in as many places as possible around the world.”

The settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by most world powers, although Israel disputes this. Palestinians see the settlements as obstacles to their goal of establishing an independent state.

According to Airbnb, there are around 200 properties in the occupied West Bank listed on its platform. After a considerable evaluation process, the firm made the decision to remove those listings.

“We know that people will disagree with this decision and appreciate their perspective,” Airbnb said. “This is a controversial issue. There are many strong views as it relates to lands that have been the subject of historic and intense disputes between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank.

“Airbnb has deep respect for those views. Our hope is that someday sooner rather than later, a framework is put in place where the entire global community is aligned so there will be a resolution to this historic conflict and a clear path forward for everybody to follow.”

Delhi is India’s capital city and one of the oldest in the world. The monuments to lost empires showcase its ancient culture, while the sleek and efficient new metro is evidence of a rapidly modernizing city. If you wake up early enough, head to Asia’s largest fruit and vegetable market: Azadpur Mandi is a sight to behold. At nearly two million square feet, the market is a crucial link for supplying food to the city. Monkeys of all ages traverse the lines and cables that interweave over the bust

Located in the north, it’s home to all three branches of the government: executive, legislative and judiciary.

The monuments to lost empires showcase its ancient culture, while the sleek and efficient new metro is evidence of a rapidly modernizing city.

This pulsating metropolis has a larger population than Australia, but pollution remains a key challenge.

The frenetic pace in Delhi begins even before the sun comes up. If you wake up early enough, head to Asia’s largest fruit and vegetable market: Azadpur Mandi is a sight to behold.

At nearly two million square feet, the market is a crucial link for supplying food to the city. Over 100 different types of fruit and vegetables can be found in the market, where more than 13,000 tons of produce pass through every day.

People are not the only ones attracted to the market. Monkeys of all ages traverse the lines and cables that interweave over the bustling marketplace below, waiting to pounce on any unattended food.